


there's something broken about this

by HawthorneWhisperer



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M, minor torture but less than on the show, season 5 speculation, that I don't expect to actually happen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-03 19:08:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14002671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HawthorneWhisperer/pseuds/HawthorneWhisperer
Summary: “Something’s wrong,” Echo whispered.  “We’re still several klicks from where the ship landed, and—”“ — they couldn’t have made this trail in a week, I know,” he finished, glancing over his shoulder.“Think the bunker made it out?” Harper asked.“We’d have seen a sign of them by now,” Monty countered.  They had deliberately landed a day and a half’s hike from the Eligius landing spot, but so far there had been no sign of human life.“Then who is it?” Emori asked.Bellamy caught the snap of a twig half a second before Echo did.  His eyes darted to hers and he held his fist up for silence. Echo unsheathed her sword with a soft snick .  Monty and Harper raised their guns, and he dropped his hand to the dagger on his hip.“Don’t move,” a young, female voice commanded.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I watched the trailer a billion times and immediately decided how I wanted the season to go.

They were making too much noise.

Echo was right, no amount of hunting lessons on the Ark could replicate the uneven terrain of the ground.  They had become experts at silently stealing around the smooth metal floors of the Ring, but a forest— with roots and twigs and underbrush— was proving to be their undoing.  Bellamy could only hope that the Eligius miners were as unused to the sounds of earth as he had been when he first landed.

Emori slipped back into formation behind him, far quieter than the others.  “Trail, twenty paces to the left,” she breathed into his ear, and Bellamy took his scout’s advice and turned left.  Sure enough, the ground evened out under his feet into a smooth, well worn track. The half-moon illuminated the path ahead of them, and he frowned.

There were two tracks, each roughly five feet apart, running parallel.  It could be an old cart and wagon road, he reasoned, but each track was just too wide to be a grounder cart— they were closer in size to a rover.  Eligius probably had rovers, or something similar, but they only had a week or so’s head start. These tracks were well traveled, if the space between the tree branches were anything to judge by.

Echo whistled lowly from her position as rear guard.  Bellamy darted back into the underbrush and the other four followed as silently as they could.

“Something’s wrong,” Echo whispered.  “We’re still several klicks from where the ship landed, and—”

“ — they couldn’t have made this trail in a week, I know,” he finished, glancing over his shoulder.

“Think the bunker made it out?” Harper asked.

“We’d have seen a sign of them by now,” Monty countered.  They had deliberately landed a day and a half’s hike from the Eligius landing spot, but so far there had been no sign of human life.

“Then who is it?” Emori asked.

Bellamy caught the snap of a twig half a second before Echo did.  His eyes darted to hers and he held his fist up for silence. Echo unsheathed her sword with a soft  _ snick _ .  Monty and Harper raised their guns, and he dropped his hand to the dagger on his hip.

“Don’t move,” a young, female voice commanded.

 

* * *

Clarke’s shoulder exploded in pain when she hit the wall.  The door slammed, plunging her into darkness, and she sank down.  She plucked at the shock collar, heavy and tight around her neck.  She could still feel tingles in her muscles from the electricity, jolting through her body over and over again until Diyoza made him stop.

_ They don’t have Madi _ , she told herself, over and over again.   _ They don’t know she exists.  She’s safe _ .  She didn’t know how Eligius recognized her, much less why they cared about whatever threat she posed.  As far as they knew, she was one woman, alone on the entire earth. 

A rustling sound at the other end of the cell had her sitting up straight.  She had no weapons, and as her pitiful fight outside their camp had proved, her lessons with Madi weren’t quite enough to keep her in fighting shape.

But Clarke Griffin was not about to go down easily.  She raised her fists and her eyes slowly adjusted to the dim, orange light leaking under the door.  It was a man, similarly huddled in a corner, with pale skin and a dusting of scruff along his jaw.  She squinted, not believing her eyes, and then let out a breath.

“Murphy?”

* * *

 

Bellamy turned, hands in the air.  She was young, far younger than any of the miners they'd left in cryosleep back on the ship, and her hair was braided in a familiar style.  Her jaw was set, and she held the gun level with a confidence he’d rarely seen in a grounder. For the first two months on the Ark when he’d trained Echo in them, she’d held them like they were something slimy.  But this girl was used to handling them, that was certain.  

The girl frowned.  “Step forward,” she ordered, motioning to him with her gun.  He hesitated, and she clicked off the safety. “Step. Forward.”

Echo adjusted her stance almost imperceptibly, and Bellamy moved into the small clearing.  He didn’t want to kill a child, especially not one who had survived Praimfaya, conceivably on her own, but they had to make it to the Eligius camp soon.  Raven and Murphy’s lives depended on it-- assuming they were still alive.

Abruptly, the girl broke into a grin and lowered her weapon.  “Bellamy?” she said incredulously. “You’re a year late.” She peered over his shoulder and furrowed her brow.  “Where’s everyone else?”

Bellamy cast her a wary glance.  “Everyone else?”

“Murphy and Raven.  She said they’d be with you.  And she never said anything about a beard.”

His heart skipped a beat, but he wouldn’t let himself believe in the impossible.  “She?”

She rolled her eyes in an all-too-familiar preteen gesture. “Clarke, duh.”

 

* * *

 

Her muscles still burning from the shocks, Clarke crawled across the cell.  “Is that really you?” she asked, wondering if the shock collar had done something to her brain.

Murphy seemed equally dazed.  “What the hell is this?” he croaked.  He skittered back from her, his movements jerky and unsteady.

“Murphy, it’s me.  Clarke,” she said, and he stared.

“Holy shit, it _is_ you,” he half-laughed, and they fell into a hug, both of them still crouched on the cold metal floor.  “You’re— you’re  _ alive.  _  How—?”

“Nightblood,” Clarke said, and despite everything, she found herself almost chuckling.  “I guess it worked.”

“I guess so,” he said.  

Clarke pulled herself to sit against the wall next to him, both of them facing the door.  “So how is—”

“Bellamy’s alive,” Murphy interrupted.  “Or he was last time I saw him, which was...I’m not sure how long ago.  A couple weeks, maybe. So was everyone else, but they’ve got me and Raven.”

“Raven’s here?” Clarke said, bolting upright and getting a sharp twinge in her shoulder in return.

Murphy nodded grimly.  “We saw this ship pass us by, and the rocket couldn’t get us to earth, so Raven and I took a chance.  Clearly the wrong idea, but we couldn’t risk not trying.”

Clarke took in the shock collar around his neck, the bruises under his eyes, and the way he seemed to be favoring one hip.  “They’re torturing you, aren’t they?”

Murphy looked away and nodded.  “They’re taking turns right now, but sometimes they like to make us watch each other scream.  Mix it up a little, you know,” he spat.

Clarke’s heart ached for them both, but her old need for information couldn’t be denied.  “You said everyone else is alive— are they still on the Ark?”

“They were last time I saw them.  But Raven’s heard these assholes talking about a second ship, so it’s possible—” he broke off, and Clarke’s heart sank.  After all this time, for them to be alive, and for it to end like— she shook her head and refused to let herself think that way. “You should know, they’ve been asking weird questions lately,” Murphy offered.  “Ever since we got down. Stuff about the bunker, about anyone who could have survived. I...I told them about you,” he said, and hung his head. “I didn’t think you’d survived, but I wanted it to stop, so I told them you might have.  And that you were dangerous. I wanted to scare them away, but I might have made them think you were a threat.”

Clarke swallowed hard.   _ So that’s how they found me. _  She had felt like she was being hunted for days after they landed, and as soon as one of them breached their compound, she knew her time there with Madi was limited.  She’d killed the intruder and sent Madi packing, hoping to have time to lay a false trail and double back to her, but McCreary had caught her less than a third of the way to their meeting point.

Something else clicked in her mind.  “So you didn’t get my transmissions, then?”  She had assumed as much within three months of sending them, but a part of her had held out hope her friends were out there, listening to her when she needed them.

“Transmissions?”

“I radioed.  Every day.”

Murphy shook his head.  “We haven’t been able to make contact with anyone.  Even the combined powers of Reyes and Green couldn’t fix the mess left behind when the Ark came down.  It was a bad six years. Well, more boring than bad, but it wasn't great.”

_ Anyone _ .  That meant they hadn’t talked to the bunker either, and her stomach sank farther.  But that also meant Eligius wouldn’t know about Madi, and she clung to that thought.

“Are they keeping Raven in here too?”

“They are,” he confirmed, and Clarke’s heart gave a hopeful leap.  “Why do I think you have a dumbass plan that might get us killed?”

Clarke smiled at her friend for the first time in six years.  “Because I do.”

* * *

 

The compound was so distinctly  _ Clarke _ it felt like a blow to his chest.  The colors, the warmth, the practicality— all of it was so much like her he wanted to stop and weep.  But he couldn’t, because the ground never, ever let up. “Clarke made me promise I wouldn’t come back until I was sure the camp wasn’t being watched.  It’s been over a day, and I haven’t seen a sign of them,” Madi prattled. “Aside from, you know, that guy.” She gestured to a freshly dug grave and Bellamy winced.  “Clarke took care of him and said we had to run, but she never made it to the rendezvous. And she wouldn’t miss that, not for anything.”

A tiny smile flickered across Bellamy’s lips.  “No, she wouldn’t,” he agreed, and Madi led them inside their small hut, lighting candles as she went.  Two small piles of blankets marked their beds, and there was a rickety, salvaged desk with a small stack of books and sheafs of paper.  Monty touched one of the books softly, his eyes wide.  _ She’s alive.  For six years, she’s been here, fighting every day to stay alive. _  He couldn’t bring himself to believe it, but the drawings of Kane and Abby tacked to the wall were unmistakably hers.  He’d spent enough time in her cell on the Ark to be able to recognize Clarke’s style, and there it was, surrounding him.  Echo touched his arm and he swallowed hard, covering her hand in thanks.

Madi kicked open a trunk and lifted out a false bottom.  “There’s a few more guns in the rover. Clarke scavenged them whenever we found them, thinking we could use them for hunting, but she taught me enough about shooting that I should be able to help you guys.” She started handing out guns to the bewildered group.  “Where’d you get those?” she asked Monty and Harper.

“There’s a second Eligius ship,” Harper said.  “We disarmed the guards and landed it a few klicks back, out in the dead zone.”

“There’s more of them?” Madi asked, eyebrows shooting up.

“They’re...incapacitated for the moment,” Monty explained.

Madi snapped back into planning mode in a manner so familiar Bellamy’s heart ached.  “Right, then we won’t worry about that. Their main camp is about a day’s hike from here but only a few hours if we take the rover.  I think there’s a way to make it there where they won’t see us, and I doubt they’ve set up too many defenses.” She checked her gun and slung the strap over her shoulder.  “With me, that makes six.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Bellamy asked.

“For the assault,” she explained matter-of-factly.  “If we leave now, we can take them by surprise—”

“How many are there?” he interjected.

“That I saw? At least two dozen.  But they won’t be expecting—”

“No.” 

Madi took half a step back.  “What?”

“We’re not launching a full-frontal assault on a group we have no information about.”

“I just told you the information.  No defenses, two dozen people.”

“There’s five of us,” he said, and he saw Harper and Emori exchange a look.

“There’s six,” Madi retorted, jaw set.  He wondered if that was innate, or if spending six years with Clarke Griffin just naturally turned you stubborn as a donkey.

“How old are you? Eleven?” he said, trying to summon the voice he'd used with Octavia when he needed to win an argument.

She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms.  “Twelve.”

“Then there’s five of us.  And even if we take them by surprise, that’s not enough.”

Madi shook her head like she wasn’t hearing him correctly.  “So...you’re not going to go after her?”

“No,” Bellamy said, his heart breaking.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Time passed oddly in the cell. Clarke understood why Murphy wasn’t sure how long they had been there— at first it felt like it had only been minutes since she was captured, but soon she started wondering if perhaps it had been hours.  And then, when her stomach began growling, perhaps days.

There was a screech of metal and a flash of light that sent both her and Murphy scrambling, and then a grunt that was somehow familiar.  The door slammed and Clarke was up again, rushing to the noise. “Raven?” she said, finding her friend’s shape in the darkness. Raven pushed herself up, squinting.  

“Who are...shit, Clarke?” Raven threw her arms around her and Clarke did the same, burying her face in Raven’s hair.  She smelled like sweat and ozone and metal. Tears welled in Clarke’s eyes.

“How— how did you—”

“You’re not the only one who can save her own ass,” Clarke teased, voice thick.

“Can’t believe you made it this long without me,” Raven laughed, but Clarke saw her wince as she tried to stand up.

“How bad is it?”

“Easier than ALIE, worse than Mount Weather,” Raven said grimly, and Clarke helped her over to the wall.  Raven laid down, her head in Clarke’s lap and Clarke brushed her hair back from her forehead. “How did you survive?”

“Nightblood.  But we have more important things to talk about, like how to get out of here.”

Raven sat up painfully.  “I think we’ve got backup, actually.  They were asking about the others, if they could land a ship, that sort of thing.  I told them no, I was the only pilot, but they didn’t seem convinced. Wanted to know about the dead zone, so I think the others might have come for us.”

Clarke let out a relieved breath, and then froze.  “Wait, how do they have intel on things in the dead zone?  That’s two days away by rover.”

“They’ve got drones.”

 _Oh, right_ .  She’d forgotten about a lot of technology, only having what she could repair for herself and Madi.  They would have aerial drones scouting the terrain, and— “ _Shit_ ,” she swore. “Madi won’t know to look for those.”

“Who the hell is Madi?” Murphy asked.

Clarke hesitated, because _my daughter_ felt the most natural, but also the most confusing for her friends.  “A girl I found. Another nightblood. She survived Praimfaya, and I’ve been...watching out for her.”

“So you’ve got a kid,” Murphy snorted.  “Of course you do.” Think she’s smart enough to find the others?”

“She’s smart enough all right,” Clarke said proudly.  “But the valley is big— she might not run into them.”

“Well, assuming it’s them, they’ll come for us,” Raven announced.

Clarke nodded.  “Then we need to be ready.”

 

* * *

 

Bellamy was used to getting the silent treatment.  Octavia had given it to him for two straight weeks once, over a slight he could no longer remember.  He remembered the snide, _sotto voce_ comments and the passive aggressive sniping, too, but it had been literally a decade since he had to deal with a twelve year old and his patience was wearing thin.

 _Two days, Madi_ , he’d said.   _We need two days, minimum, to prepare._  It killed him to tell her that, but they didn’t have a choice.  There were five of them, against what Echo reported was actually thirty members of Eligius, all of them armed.  Echo and Harper had done a recon mission with Madi as a guide, but they were both less optimistic than Clarke's ward. “They’ve got drones,” Harper reported grimly when they hopped out of the rover.  “But they seem to be focused north of the valley, closer to where we landed the ship.”

That meant his gamble had paid off— he’d directed Emori to land them to the north and then led them east, skirting their camp widely.  It had taken longer than he liked, but it seemed to have bought them some cover. And it brought them to Madi, and... _Clarke_.

It still didn’t feel real.  He wasn’t someone who got to experience miracles.  That was for other people, people who hadn’t done what he’d done.   _You might still lose her_ a voice whispered in his ear.   _Waiting could mean they kill her_ . _It would mean you killed her._  But charging in unprepared would mean all of them dying, and he couldn’t risk that.

Madi stomped off away from him towards where Monty and Emori were assembling the bombs.  It was just like being back at the dropship, cutting open bullets and pouring the powder into canisters.  It was slow, painstaking work that would take them another day at least.

Echo waited for Harper to join the others.  “No sign of them,” she said, about as gently as Echo ever got.  “We watched for as long as we could.  There seemed to be a rotation of people coming on and off the ship; could be guard duty.”

“Good to know,” he said curtly.

“Bellamy,” Echo warned, and grabbed his wrist.  “She’s alive. As far as we know, she’s alive. And we’ll get her back.  We’ll get them all back.”

He looked over at Madi, who was throwing murderous looks over her shoulder at him.  “I hope you’re right.”

* * *

They didn’t come.  Hours crawled by, and periodically their captors threw them a few ready-made meals to divide amongst themselves.  Clarke gave most of hers to Raven, partially because she suspected her last meal was far more recent and partially because it had been years since she had tried to digest a block of space-grown protein, and her stomach rebelled within a few bites.  She offered some to Murphy too, but he waved her off, whether from the same concern for Raven or because his own stomach was uncertain she couldn’t tell.

Raven was working on a plan to disable their shock collars, but she had been trying for weeks with no success and Clarke didn’t have any new ideas.  She knew the rough location of the Eligius ship, but getting out meant getting past at least two guards, down three hallways, and out the gangplank without being seen.  From what Clarke remembered, the ship was crawling with people, and sometimes she’d press her ear to the door and listen to footsteps. There was always activity on the ship, it seemed, so they couldn’t even count on a sleepy night shift to make their escape. She had been planning on making a run for it the second Raven returned, but one glance at her— and a better look at Murphy— told her that was a lost cause.  Their best plan was to be prepared to run the moment their friends arrived, and pray they would come soon. But as the hours (days?) dragged on, Clarke started to worry something had gone wrong.

_Maybe something went wrong in landing, and they were all dead.  Maybe they didn’t know where Eligius was camped, or maybe Eligius had already found them._

_Maybe rescue was never coming, and they were going to be stuck in this cell for the rest of their lives._  

Clarke kept remembering a different time, a different prison, when Bellamy appeared out of the gloom like a hero from a fairytale.  She’d even told Madi that story, about how hard he fought for her and how he touched her so gently she thought she might shatter.  But that was then.  This was now.

Some time later, a guard barged in.  They all shielded themselves from the light and received teeth-rattling shocks from their collars.  Clarke’s muscles were still twitching when the guard grabbed her by her arm and hauled her up, dragging her from the cell before she could do so much as yelp.

They threw her into a chair and bound her hands behind her.  Diyoza stepped in front of her, that nasty scar snaking around her neck, and tipped her head to the side.  “Where are they?” she asked crisply.

Clarke stayed silent, glaring.

The woman rolled her eyes and signaled to someone standing in the shadows.  A pulse zapped through her body, making her throat close for several heart-stopping seconds.  But then air rushed back into her lungs and Clarke uncurled her fingers from her palms. She’d broken the skin, but that was nothing.  Two years ago she’d fallen from a tree and broke her leg, and had to hobble back to camp with the bone poking out of the skin.  She could handle this.  She lifted her chin and raised her eyebrows.

Diyoza sighed again.  “Your friends. Where are they?”

“I don’t have any friends.  I’m alone, remember?” She’d told McCreary that as he dragged her back to camp, hoping to buy Madi some more time.

“Yes, that’s what you said.  But our drones found a camp about 80 kilometers east of here.”

“I had to live somewhere.”

“Then why, when our drones scouted the site, did we see six people?”

Clarke’s heart leapt with joy but she kept her face blank.  “Maybe some of your people went rogue. Can’t be fun, living like you’re still in prison.”

“My people are all accounted for.”

“Then maybe the bunker got out.”

“The bunker?”

 _Interesting._  When McCreary dragged her back to camp, she’d told him about the bunker, making it sound as though they were far closer to the valley than they were, and that she was far more certain they were alive.  She implied they were coming, and soon.  He didn’t buy her bluff, but he also didn’t share that information with his commanding officer. That meant there were cracks in the ranks.  

And cracks could be easily be widened. “I told your man about it.  The rest of my people are in a bunker just beyond the borders of the valley.  A thousand of them, most of them warriors.”

Diyoza turned to one of the guards.  “Get me McCreary. Put him in my chambers.  He’s not to leave until I see him.”

“Right away, ma’am,” the man saluted.

“Why are they in there and you’re out here?”

“I’m the only nightblood.”

“Nightblood?”

“Our blood that protects us from the radiation,” she explained.  She realized they had it when she executed the one who stumbled on their compound, and when she injured McCreary in their fight he’d had it too.

“Then they’re not my concern.”

“They should be.  The radiation’s gone; they’ll be out any day now,” she lied.  “That must be them already, in my compound.”

Diyoza eyed her warily and shook her head.  “Stop lying, little one,” she said dangerously.  She crouched in front of Clarke’s face and traced her jaw with her finger.  “There’s six people in your compound, no more.” Clarke tried to bite her finger and was rewarded with a crack across her cheek.  “Again,” she ordered the guard, and this time, the shock went on for long enough that Clarke’s eyes rolled back in her head.

“We know they’re coming for you,” Diyoza warned her.  “If you’re lucky, we’ll let you watch them die.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My distances are like, all over the map here* but whatever who cares none of this is real.
> 
>  
> 
> *do you see what I did there


	3. Chapter 3

Everything was going wrong.

The plan was solid, or as solid as it could be: Emori would lay the charges around the western edge of Eligius’ compound under cover of darkness, and then Harper would fire on them from a safe distance away.  Aside from Bellamy she was their best shot, and Bellamy had to be stationed on the eastern side, closest to the ship.

Monty would lay more charges to the south and then sprint back to Madi at the rover.  He’d hooked up a rudimentary interface, and was fairly sure he could hack Eligius’ systems once they were within range.  After setting of Emori's, Harper would then set off Monty’s charges, Monty and Madi would guide them through the Eligius ship and hack any locked doors that were in their way, and Bellamy and Echo would breach the ship.  Harper and Emori would be the rear guard, holding any Eligius guards off from the rover.  If Monty couldn’t hack Eligius’ system, Echo was reasonably confident she’d learned enough from the layout of the other ship that she could find where prisoners would be held.

Bellamy laid on his stomach under the cover of several layers of brush, waiting for the sky to lighten.  Two guards walked the perimeter of the compound with guns at the ready. Echo laid next to him, still and silent. It came back to her easily, this life, but for Bellamy it was like putting on a pair of shoes that no longer fit.  For the past two days, every cell in his body had screamed for him to stop planning and just  _ go get them _ , but that wasn’t who he was anymore.  He had to wait, to make sure they had every angle covered, to ensure they didn’t blow what was likely their only shot at getting their people out alive.

“I’ll go first,” Echo whispered.

Bellamy stiffened.  “No, I’m point,” he whispered back.   _ My people, my responsibility _ .

“You’re better with a ranged weapon than I am,” she argued.  “And I’m still better at you in hand-to-hand.” In the distance, the first explosion rocked the trees.  The guards snapped their rifles to their shoulders and spun westward.

This was not the plan they had agreed to back at Clarke’s camp, and he suspected she had waited until now on purpose.  They rose into a crouch, and three more charges went off. More people swarmed off the ship, armed to the teeth. This was their cue— after the first set of charges, and before the second round clued them in that it was a distraction.  Echo broke into a sprint half a second before he could, and Bellamy cursed under his breath. He could beat her at long distances but in close range she had him dead to rights.

His arms pumped and the sword banged against his hip, the rifle already coming up to his shoulder to sight down the first target.  Echo was pulling away, swords in hand, and then Bellamy realized:

The second set of charges hadn’t gone off.

The radio in his ear crackled to life.  “We’ve got a problem,” Monty said.

“Kinda busy,” Bellamy grunted.  Up ahead, Echo took down a woman with a quick swipe of her sword across the back of her knees.  A small figure darted into the clearing and shot a man in the shoulder. Bellamy swore again. “I see her,” he told Monty.

“She was gone by the time I got back,” Monty said.  “Any changes to the plan?”

Bellamy slammed the butt of his rifle into the face of a young guard and watched Madi beat Echo to the gangplank.  “No,” he barked.

“Want me as backup?” Harper asked, slightly out of breath.  “I couldn’t risk the second charges, Madi was too close.”

“Stay. Where. You. Are,” he gritted.  He followed Echo into the ship and slammed into a woman at full speed.  She wasn’t expecting him and he flipped her to her back and kept going, just in time to see Madi’s dark braid whip around a corner.

“Two lefts then a right,” Monty instructed him.  Up ahead Madi took a wrong turn and Bellamy skidded to a stop.  

“This way!” he yelled, and waited to make sure she was following them.  They were meeting less resistance inside than he expected, so at least the first round of charges had done their job.

“Having a problem with the locks but it should be the fourth door on the right,” Monty warned, and Bellamy took out two more guards who came around the corner.  

“It’s that one!” he yelled to Echo, and she took her stance in front of the door.

“Locks?” he barked.

“Working on it,” Monty said, with that all-too-familiar waver.  He was worried, and hiding it. 

Madi hurled her shoulder at the solid metal door and Bellamy had to jerk her back by the scruff of her neck.  “You’re gonna hurt yourself,” he growled, and Madi shook him off angrily. 

Bellamy took out another guard with his rifle and then frowned.  They should be being swarmed now, but the hallways were largely empty.  “Harper, report?”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” she said.  “They’re all out here, like they’re…”

“Waiting,” Emori filled in.  “They’re waiting for you.”

“Shit.  Monty? Doors?”

“Got ‘em,” Monty crowed, and there was a soft magnetic click.

Madi got the door open first.  “Clarke?” she yelled into the darkness.

A blur of blonde slammed into Madi, and despite it all, Bellamy had to stop and blink.  He hadn’t quite believed it, but it was real. Clarke was alive, hugging Madi as if her life depended on it.

Raven and Murphy moved a little slower, and Bellamy winced at how gingerly Raven walked.  “Took you long enough,” Murphy snarked. All three of them had heavy black and silver collars around their necks.

“Yeah well, we had to figure out how to land a damn spaceship without Raven.”

Raven smirked at that, and then nodded out towards the hallway.  “You kill everyone, or is this a trap?”

“Trap,” Echo confirmed.  “Got any bright ideas of how to get us out?”

“You guys would be so screwed without me,” Raven clucked.  “We need one of these collars off.”

“Use mine,” Clarke said, and Bellamy’s eyes darted back towards her, guilt and doubt roiling his belly.   _ I should have come for you sooner.  The second I heard, I should have come _ .  He’d dreamed of her so often, that seeing her again— her curves a little sharper, her hair shorter than he’d ever seen it— was like looking into the sun.  He couldn’t manage it for long.

“We’ll have to pry it off, but careful with the swords,” Raven instructed.  “You’re both going to get a hell of a shock.”

Bellamy swallowed hard and unsheathed his sword.  “I’ll do it,” he offered. She turned, lifting her hair, and he gently eased the flat of the blade between the back of her neck and the collar.  He could just see the place where it hinged together, and he placed the blade just to the right. Wordlessly, Murphy handed him his jacket to wrap around the end. Between that and the wooden handle he should be insulated enough to handle it, but the barbs went straight into Clarke’s skin.  

“Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” she said dryly, and a grin flicked across his lips.  He’d missed that. “Don’t watch, Madi,” she added, and Echo tugged the girl’s face into her chest.

He yanked with all his strength and a sharp pulse of electricity jolted through him.  Clarke cried out and fell forward, but the collar snapped off and dangled from the sword.  It sparked again and then went dead.

Madi wriggled from Echo’s grasp and helped Clarke up.  Clarke was breathing hard, tears in her eyes, but she put on a smile.  “I’m okay,” she said, but she leaned more heavily on Madi than he’d like.

“Where’s Monty?” Raven asked, picking up the collar.

“Rover; hacked into their system.”

“Let me talk to him,” she ordered, and Echo handed over her earpiece.

“I’m fine,” Raven said immediately.  “I need you to blow a back exit.” She looked at Echo.  “Where’s the rover?”

“Half a klick south.”

“And those bombs that went off— those were you guys?”

“We still have four,” Bellamy confirmed.

“Someone’s on them?”

“Harper.”

Raven walked to the panel near the door and tried to pry it off.  Echo moved her aside and ripped it off in one swift movement, and Raven murmured quietly to Monty, picking the collar apart.

Bellamy found Clarke watching him, her arm around Madi, and he shifted uncomfortably.   _ I’m sorry, _ he wanted to scream.   _ I’m sorry I left you here so long.  All of you _ .  Murphy and Raven bore signs of torture, and Clarke had a long, red scratch across her cheek.  He’d felt the snap of electricity in his bones, and knew they’d used that on Clarke— on all of them—  more than once. “She was supposed to stay with the rover,” he said instead, motioning to Madi.

Madi glared at him, but Clarke chuckled softly.  “Sounds like my girl,” she said fondly. “But next time, do as Bellamy says,” she added.

“Okay, we’re on,” Raven snapped.  “Monty’s got their drones— they’re surrounding the ship, but most of them are in front of it, just a few meters from the rest of the bombs.  Emori’s going to circle around back to lay down some cover. Harper sets off the bombs and we go out the back. We’ll have to take a few down, but it’s our best chance.”

“And that?” Bellamy asked, pointing to the collar, now hooked up to the panel.

Raven grinned.  “I’m going to make this go boom.”

* * *

They drew to a stop when they hit the river.  Harper was relaying directions to Monty while Echo and Emori stood guard.  The explosion had taken out a sizable chunk of Eligius' people— not mortally, Monty didn’t think, but enough that they weren’t in hot pursuit.  He’d scrambled their drones and Raven’s jury-rigged collar had acted as an EMP, blowing out all power on board. If Monty hadn’t gotten that back door open first, they’d have been trapped in the ship, too, but for now, Eligius had less tech than they did.

Clarke doubled over to catch her breath, clutching the stitch in her side.  Two— three? — days in captivity had taken more out of her than she thought. Raven and Murphy were in worse shape than her, however, and Bellamy was letting Raven lean on him.

She caught his eye and flashed him an awkward smile.  In the cell it seemed as though he was avoiding looking at her, and she couldn’t read his expression.  That alone was off-putting, because never in a million years had she thought there would be a day when she didn’t know what Bellamy was thinking.  Raven straightened, and Clarke felt everyone’s gaze drawn to them both. It was like being in a spotlight, hot and uncomfortable, and Bellamy stepped forward to pull her into a hug.

For six years, she had imagined this moment.  How warm his arms would feel, how his heart would beat reassuringly against her ear, how his scent— gunpowder and pine needles— would wrap around her like a blanket.

But something was wrong.  The elements were there, of course: his arms were warm and his chest broader and strong— but she didn’t feel relief seeping into her bones like she thought she would.  “I’m sorry,” he said awkwardly, and broke apart far sooner than she wanted. 

She couldn’t imagine what he was apologizing for, so she shrugged.  Madi was throwing death glares at Bellamy, and Clarke tugged her braid.  “It’s fine,” she said, and then Monty was roaring up in the rover and they piled into the back.

“Where to?” Monty called over his shoulder.  

“They know about our compound, so that’s out,” Clarke said, climbing towards the front seat.

“The cave?” Madi offered.

“That’s a good one— head west,” she ordered, and glanced back over her shoulder.  Bellamy’s head was bent over his sword, carefully sharpening it as the rover jostled over some rocks.  

He didn’t look up, so she stopped looking back.


	4. Chapter 4

Clarke angrily stuffed rations into her pack.  It had been six years since she’d had to even  _ consider _ taking orders from another person, and it didn’t sit easily on her shoulders.  Nor did she recognize the person Octavia had become, which was now a running theme with the Blakes, it would seem.

A small portion of the Eligius crew had broken off from Diyoza and McCreary and brought with them enough mining equipment to free the bunker, and in return Octavia was banishing them to the dead zone.

_ We don’t have enough in the bunker to feed them, _  she’d said flatly.   _ They can go back to their ship.  That has an algae farm, doesn’t it? _

_ An algae farm that’s currently keeping one hundred and fifty people alive in cryosleep _ , Clarke spat.

_ A hundred and fifty criminals _ , Octavia retorted.   _ They can decide how to portion it out; that’s not my problem.  But I will not lead my people out of the bunker just to let them starve. _

Clarke had bargained for enough rations to get them back to the ship plus a few days more, and offered to lead the exodus.  She knew the dead zone better than anyone, after all, and she’d be damned if any of them died because of Octavia.

Madi approached their campsite warily.  Firelight reflected off the rubble and flickered in her eyes.  “Get your things, Madi. We’re going.” Madi stayed put and Clarke rolled up her bedroll.  “Madi, your things.”

“I’m staying,” Madi said quietly.  Behind her, Bellamy approached.

“What?”

“I’m staying.  With Octavia. She— she said I could.”

“You  _ could? _ ” Clarke said, eyebrows raising.

“She wants to train me.  She saw me sparring with some of the other kids, and said I was really good, and—”  Clarke stared at her, uncomprehending. Aside from her few days in captivity last month, she and Madi hadn’t been parted for more than a few hours in six years.  It hadn't occurred to her Madi would _want_ to stay without her.  “You’re not going for good, right? Just to get them back to the ship, get them settled, and then you’ll be back. And Octavia said I should start my training now.”

Clarke glanced at Bellamy, helpless, and he shrugged.  “I can— I can look out for her,” he said, and at Madi’s dirty look, he lifted his hands.  “I just mean, for Clarke. You’d be with Octavia, but I’d keep an eye on you, just in case,” he added.

Like everything with Bellamy, the moment felt stilted.  It was genuine, but he was still so guarded, so distant, she wasn’t sure how to take it.  He hadn’t avoided her since the rescue, exactly, but he wasn’t seeking her out the way she thought he would.  And when she sought him out he was cool and reserved with her, as if they were mere acquaintances and not the person whose memory kept her sane for six straight years.

“Can we have a second, Madi?”

Madi walked away with one last glare at Bellamy.  “I’m sorry about Octavia,” he said. “I don’t know what happened down there.”

Clarke thought of the haunted look her mother and Marcus wore, of the tension between Octavia and Indra, and nodded.  “Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. And sorry about Madi, while we’re at it.”

Bellamy shrugged.  “I get why she doesn’t like me much.  I’m used to it,” he added, with a half-smile.

“Do you agree with your sister?” she asked.

“Not really, but I see why she feels like she has to make this choice,” he said, and the burden of so many lives once again loomed large above them both.  “She’s not condemning them to death, she just— she can’t look out for everyone.”

Clarke lifted her chin. “She’s putting us in danger.  Without the Renegades— ”

“She’s doing the best she can,” he retorted, and crossed his arms.  His face was impassive, unreadable. Clarke hadn’t quite believed Madi when she said Bellamy was the one who argued for waiting to rescue them, but now she did.  This Bellamy seemed to value strategy above humanity in a way that was utterly foreign to her.

Anger flared in her, and fear.  Fear that the Bellamy she had believed in for so long actually hadn’t truly returned, or perhaps never existed.  “So you’re siding with her?” she snapped.

“I didn’t say that.”

“But that’s what you’re doing.”

“I’m trying to keep things from falling apart,” he growled.  For a moment they stared at each other, and then Clarke deflated.

“She’s going to war, isn’t she?” Clarke threw another log on the fire, the sparks reflected in his dark eyes.

“I think so.  The valley is the best chance they have for survival.”

_ They _ .  The word didn’t escape her, but she didn’t point it out.  “So what do we do?”

“You get the Renegades back to their ship.  I’ll do my best with Octavia, and I’ll keep an eye on Madi.  You’ll have radios, and I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

“What does she want with Madi?”

“Just to train her,” Bellamy assured her.  “I was there. She’s a good fighter, your kid.  I think Octavia sees some of herself in her, that’s all.”

Clarke rested her elbows on her knees and stared into the fire.  “Then send Madi back over. I guess we’re saying goodbye.”  
  


* * *

 

Bellamy watched Madi walk away from Octavia and clamber up a pile of rubble.  Octavia had a look on her face that made him uneasy, but then again, everything about Octavia made him uneasy these days.  She’d changed, as they all had, but he wasn’t sure it was for the better. He wondered if this was how she felt back in Arkadia when he was under Pike’s spell, like he was becoming someone she didn’t know anymore.

Madi sat down, cross-legged, facing west.  Octavia stood watching her for a moment and then swept away in a swirl of red, the setting sun turning her into a column of flame.  Bellamy’s gaze lingered on Madi, but he turned and followed his sister instead.

“What was that about?” he asked.

“Nothing that concerns you.”

“Think again,” he said in a tone that had used to compel her to spill whatever it was she was hiding.

But that was then, with a different Octavia and a different Bellamy.  Now, she just looked at him, her eyes hard. “I said, nothing that concerns you.”

She ducked down into the main entrance of the bunker and he trailed her, her guards eyeing him warily.  “I told Clarke I’d watch out for Madi while she’s gone.”

“Madi’s in no danger,” Octavia tossed over her shoulder, but she didn’t look at him.  She swept into her chambers and unhooked her cloak, tossing it aside. “I have to train,” she informed him, clearly expecting him to go.

Bellamy shrugged and peeled his jacket off.  “I’ll train with you,” he offered.

Octavia lifted an eyebrow. “Think you can beat me, big brother?”

“I’ve been practicing,” he said with a flicker of a smile, and tossed her a blunted practice sword.

Octavia started out cocky, but within minutes they were both sweating and panting, unable to get the upper hand.  They broke apart and circled each other, stances ready. “She’s going to be my second,” Octavia admitted.

“Madi?”

She nodded and swung, nearly landing a blow on his chest that he blocked just in time.  “She’s a nightblood. I need her.”

“Abby could make more nightbloods,” he countered.  

This time, Octavia ducked his attack and spun so the door to her chambers was at her back.  “My people won’t accept that. She’s a _true_ nightblood. If I fall in battle, wonkru won’t follow anyone else.”

_ If I fall in battle. _  Bellamy couldn’t bring himself to face that possibility, not after everything, but then his brain caught up to what she was saying.  “You want her to be the next commander?”

“It's the only way,” she said fiercely, and her next onslaught was furious and quick.  He barely managed to twist out of her way, and wondered if they’d ever been on such even ground.

“Clarke won’t like it,” he warned.

“Clarke isn’t in charge anymore,” Octavia spat.  Something like pain flickered across her face. “What I did down here— it can’t be for nothing, Bell,” she said, sounding more like his sister than she had since the bunker opened.  “And if I die without a second, without a  _ nightblood _ second, it will be.  I can’t let that happen.  I won’t,” she said, slipping back into the mask of the commander.  This time, he launched the offensive and he had the edge, driving his sister back, blow for blow.  

He dropped into a crouch and spun, just like Echo taught him. He caught Octavia’s leg and she went down with a groan. Bellamy stood and pointed the sword towards her heart. “We all have things to answer for.  But that doesn’t mean we have to keep making the same mistakes. We can come up with another way,” he offered.

“No.” 

Bellamy stepped back and held out his hand, but Octavia refused to take it.  “She’s just a kid, O.” 

Octavia walked to the corner of the room and picked up a threadbare rag to wipe her face without looking back.  “So was I.”   
  


* * *

 

Bellamy bent his head against the furnace wind.  Officially, he was on a recon mission, making sure the Renegades were settling back into the ship without planning to sell them out to their old friends in the Valley.  Unofficially, he knew, he’d been banished. Octavia was going to continue with her plan to train Madi as her second, and Bellamy was a complication she no longer wanted to deal with.

He squinted at the map Clarke had drawn before she left.  The sands continually shifted out in the dead zone, but Clarke had done her best to identify more permanent markers— in this case, a twisted heap of metal that might have once been a bridge.  It looked enough like her drawing, he decided, although the small dune that had arisen in front of it made it difficult to be sure. He had to turn east here for another twenty klicks, before swinging south again.

But when he climbed back into the rover he found himself turning around, towards Polis.

Octavia might think there was no other way, but he wasn’t so sure.

* * *

 

It was full dark when he crept back into Polis.  He left the rover out in the dead zone and slipped into the rubble that used to be the capital on foot, waiting for the guards to pass by before crossing the boundaries of the camp.

Madi’s fire was easy enough to find.  She was sleeping on her side, facing the flames, with Jackson across from her.  He dropped to his knees and clamped a hand over her mouth. Madi started and immediately tried to swing at him, but he dodged the blow and lifted a finger to his lips.  

She hesitated, taking in his face, and then nodded.  “We have to go,” he whispered. “Now.”

He watched her considering, and then she nodded again.  Silently, she gathered her things and Bellamy stole into the supply center that had been relocated to the surface.  He took just enough water and food to last them the journey, and when he returned to her fire Madi was ready. 

Jackson opened his eyes and started to sit up, but when Bellamy shook his head, he nodded and closed his eyes.  Bellamy would have to hope that loyalty would last until they were safely away, but he didn’t have much choice. Or much time.

* * *

 

The sun had just cracked the horizon when Madi spoke for the first time.  “Why did we have to run?” she asked.

“I told Clarke I would look after you, so that’s what I’m doing.”

“But why now?”

He considered carefully, and the rover rumbled across the sands.  “You were in danger.”

“From Octavia?”

“How much do you know about that?” he asked instead.

“Octavia wants me to be her second.”

“She did,” he confirmed.  “But that would be dangerous for you, and I promised Clarke I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”

“So now you keep your promises,” Madi sneered, and Bellamy let that one land.  Silence dragged on, and then she looked at him again. “She wanted me to be the next commander, didn't she?” she said, but it wasn’t a question.  “They wouldn't have wanted that.”

“They?”

“My— my parents.  I don’t remember them much, but I do remember...hiding.”

“From the nightblood scouts,” he realized. 

Madi lapsed into silence again and Bellamy turned at the remains of the bridge.  She cleared her throat.   "Clarke talked about all of you, you know, but...don’t take this the wrong way, but you came back different.”

“Different?”

She snorted.  “Every story she told me about you, you went charging into things headfirst.”

“People change.”

“Not that much.  And Octavia didn’t.  She’s just as bad ass as Clarke said.  But you— you aren’t who I heard about. And Clarke said so,” Madi said, and Bellamy winced.  “She said you’re not like how she remembered.”

“I had to,” he said, and it was harder to get the words out than he thought it would.  “I had to change to survive. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care.”

Madi scoffed, but there was less derision in it than before.  “Whatever, I don’t want to talk to you.”

“That’s fine,” he agreed, and they lapsed into silence again.

* * *

 

“You should wait,” Monty pleaded.  “At least until we have more information.”

“They said Madi’s gone,” Clarke said, filling up her waterskin.  “I’m going.”

“The connection was terrible; we don’t know _where_ she’s gone, or if she still is.  She could be back by now, but until we get the radios working again—”

“I’m not waiting,” Clarke said flatly.  “I will not leave her out there alone.”

“You could die,” Monty argued, and Clarke slung her bag over her shoulder.

“Then I die.  Out of my way, Monty.”

Reluctantly, Monty stepped aside and Clarke walked out onto the flat, sandy plain.  A rover roared up and slammed to a stop, and a small figure darted out. Relief flooded Clarke’s veins and Madi slammed into her, their smiles brighter than the sun.  She picked Madi up and spun her around, the worry and fear of the last few hours evaporating into thin air. Clarke finally set her down and smoothed back Madi’s hair.  “Where did you come from?” Clarke asked. “I was just about to go looking for you.”

Madi looked over her shoulder.  “Bellamy hoped we’d get here before they noticed I was gone,” she said, and for the first time Clarke noticed Bellamy standing next to the rover, watching their reunion.  “Octavia was going to make me the next commander,” Madi said, and Clarke’s attention snapped back to her.

“What?”

“Don’t worry, that’s why he— that’s why we left.  Bellamy knew you wouldn’t like it.”

Clarke pulled Madi against her, an old fear stirring in her chest.   _ Commander _ was not a position you held if you wanted to live a long, full life.  It was harsh and brutal and could turn even the softest person hard, and she would die before she let another person she loved be taken by the throne.  Her eyes found Bellamy again. “You must be starving,” she said to Madi. “There’s food inside the ship. I’ll be right in.”

Madi took off towards the ship and Clarke approached Bellamy.  “Thank you,” she said, and he ducked his head, shuffling his feet.  “She told me about Octavia’s plan. Thank you.” She stepped closer, trying to get him to meet her eyes.

Bellamy shrugged and looked away.  “I said I’d watch out for her.”

“Octavia’s your sister,” Clarke said.  “Taking Madi—”

“Let me handle Octavia,” Bellamy replied. He looked at her, awkward and uncomfortable, and then shook his head.  He pulled her against him so sharply she almost lost balance, but then his arms were around her.  “I’m sorry,” he murmured into her hair. “I’m so sorry.”

“For what?” she asked, even as she melted against him.  Because  _ this _ felt right, somehow, like the distance between them had abruptly gone up in smoke.  

“For leaving you with Eligius to be tortured.  For not coming sooner. For— for leaving you behind,” he said, voice catching.

Clarke tightened her grip on him and tucked her face into his neck.  “Don’t be. You did what had to be done. And if you’d waited—” She had spent years going over those last moments in her head, spinning out what might have happened.  They would have all died in the death wave, or worse, they would have died and she would have had to watch it happen. If they’d made it to space somehow, she never would have found Madi.  There might not have been anyone to protect her, make sure she had enough to eat, to watch over her while she slept. As hard as it was to watch that rocket leave the ground, she had known in her bones it was the right decision.  “There’s nothing to forgive, Bellamy,” she said, and he made a sound that was half-laugh, half sob, and she kissed his cheek.

Slowly, they disentangled themselves.  She caught Monty watching them with an amused grin and ignored him.  “Octavia’s going to be furious with you,” she said, and Bellamy draped his arm over her shoulder as they started to walk towards the ship.

“She will,” he agreed with a sigh.  “Can we deal with that later?”

Clarke fought a smile and lost.  “Whenever you’re ready.”

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES I know there are bodies and blood behind Clarke and Madi in the trailer shot this hug is based on, and NO I don't want to deal with that much plot.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Hozier's "From Eden."
> 
> I honestly don't think I've EVER posted a fic before it was 90% written but I just couldn't wait to share this with you. Second chapter is coming, hopefully soon.


End file.
